


Death's Life(how to teach an immortal to live)

by sunjestic



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Atlantis, Attempt at Humor, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Harry!Death, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M, Master of Death Harry Potter, Other, POV Outsider, Reincarnation, Romance, Sane Tom Riddle, Time Travel, Yeah you read that right, a splash of Greek mythology, and a healthy dose of the following, and i guess it also sorta has some, hahaha wonder how that happened, there are a lot of - Freeform, whoops now the potter kids are here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-08-06 06:24:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16383008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunjestic/pseuds/sunjestic
Summary: Harry and Tom have lived through hundreds of lives; constantly jumping through the reincarnation cycle, but always having each other. They have lived, and laughed, and loved, with the fierce passion of mortals tempered only with the experience of being immortal.But…Death wants that. More than anything, Death wants to feel those things that only a mortal can experience. Joy. Pain. The thrill of living..“Of course I will give you a life, Thanatos.” Harry smiles, mischief rising in his eyes. “In fact, how about you take mine?”





	1. Chapter 1

“Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!” Lily begged, tears rising in her eyes in frustration and fear. Her wand was downstairs, left behind in a flurry of panic, as she had rushed upstairs to grab Harry and apparate out of the house.

But she couldn’t apparate. Someone had set up an Anti-Apparition ward, which suggested that they had known their location for a while. So Peter was probably a traitor, James was probably dead, and she had no way to save her son.

“Stand aside.” Voldemort stood before her, wand held loosely in hand, ready to strike at any moment. His red eyes bore into her own, his face emotionless and all the more terrifying for it.

“Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead-”

“Enough. Stand aside. There is no need for you to be hurt.”

Stand aside? How could she leave her son? How could she watch as he  _ murdered her child. _

“Not Harry! Please… have mercy… have mercy…” Lily started sobbing, choking out pleas, knowing it was useless, but needing to try. What else could she do?

She heard a sigh, and then knew nothing.

.

Tom looked down at the unconscious form of Lily Potter, feeling a slight pang of respect. Even in the face of her demise, she chose to protect her son.

Walking over to the cradle in the room, Tom smiled as bright green eyes looked up at him.

“Hello, love.” The infant Harry gave him a gummy smile, and then with a swirl of magic, he was an adult again. Tom shifted into his own true form to match him, and with a laugh, embraced his husband.

He felt brush of lips against his ear, and heard a soft, whispered “Thank you.”

“Well I could hardly kill your mother,” Tom pulled back slightly so he could see Harry’s face, and reached up to brush his thumb across a freckled cheekbone. Harry smiled at him, and leans in to give him a kiss.

“Really? You’re kissing  _ now?” _ A flat tone interrupts the moment, and the two immortals look over to see Death leaning against the wall on the other side of the room. They’re dressed casually, in a short black sundress, with bare feet.

Harry just rolls his eyes at them, and because he’s an instigating little shit, leans up to very obviously peck Tom on the cheek. Now it’s Death’s turn to roll their eyes. 

“So, are you ready to do this?” Harry asks Death, who straightens up.

“Yes.”

“And you’ve already sent out all the Grims?”

“Yes.”

“And you’ve collected the souls from the horcruxes?”

_ “Master.” _ Harry pauses in his rambling and grins sheepishly at an amused Death. “I am ready.”

“Yeah, you are. I just, I want to make sure that you enjoy this. You only live your first life once, you know?” Harry says, which Tom has to smile and roll his eyes at, because he’s grown unspeakably fond of Harry’s nonsense in the eternity they’ve spent together.

Death smiled, small and joyful, coming over to them to hug Harry tightly. Tom stepped back slightly, but reached over and rested a hand on Death’s back. They looked over at him, and gave him a nod which he returned with a dip of his head.

“Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Harry, Tom.”

“No thanks are needed. We’re glad to help you, Thanatos.” Harry’s smile grew softer, and he stepped back and reached for Tom’s hand. Their fingers twined together automatically, and Tom began to channel his magic into their joined hands.

Harry lifts a hand, fingertips green with life and death magic, and places his hand on Death’s forehead.

“I, Harry, give You, Thanatos, a mortal Life, to live as You so choose.”

Death gives a happy sigh, dark eyes flashing, and then is gone; a baby with green eyes in his place. Lighting crests on his forehead, and Harry strokes it once with his hand, then lifts up Death and places him in the cradle. Tom uses the arm not around Harry’s waist to pat Death’s head, meeting the same green eyes that Harry has, but slightly darker.

“You know how to call us if you need our help.” Tom says, then lets go of Harry, moving back and fading from view, as downstairs, a faint cry of “James!” is heard.

Harry stays next to the cradle a moment longer, one of Death’s small, chubby hands reaching up to grab Harry’s pinky finger. Smiling gently, the way Tom loves, Harry leans down to press a kiss against the new scar on Death’s forehead, and then fades from view himself. Even without vision, he finds his way to Tom unerringly, and they watch on as Sirius stumbles into the room, an unsteady James leaning on him. He cries out when he sees his wife laying on the ground, rushing to her and starting to cry when he realizes she’s still breathing.

Death is just sitting there, staring at his new parents unblinkingly, and Tom wishes he could go over there and smack him because _ that’s not how you act like a baby, Death. _

“Harry!” Lily is the first one to remember there’s a child in the room, and turns towards the cradle in panic, only to stop as she notices that somehow, someway, her child didn’t die. Heaving herself up, she runs frantic hands over Death, searching for injuries, and pausing as she finds the scar. She trades a look with James, who immediately tries to go off and call Dumbledore, only for Sirius to plop him down next to his wife with a mutter of “Oh hell no you aren’t, Prongs," and head off himself.

Lily and James share a moment of being desperately happy to be alive, and it’s around this time that they finally realize that their one year-old is staring at them with the emotionless face of an axe-murderer. Still not blinking.

It took them long enough.

They start talking to Death, trying to make him react to them, but he just…

Stares.

Harry is giggling next to Tom, having muffled their voices to outsiders, and being absolutely no help. Tom rolls his eyes and pinches his husband, making him yelp.

“Wow, Tom. No need to get frisky now, we’ve got plenty of time later.” Harry waggles his eyebrows at Tom, with a completely ridiculous look on his face that definitely doesn’t make Tom’s chest feel warm.

Rolling his eyes, Tom reaches for the balance of Light and Dark magic inside him, bringing the Dark forward and pulling the shadows around him and Harry. When the shadows disperse, they’re in a place they both know well.

“Atlantis?” Harry says in disbelief. “I know you were gonna rebuild it this time around, but couldn’t that have waited till tomorrow? We could be in the Caribbean right now, having sex in the ocean!”

Tom rolls his eyes, tuning out Harry as he started on a tirade about various places that they could have been at, and starts to appraise this time period’s Atlantis.

Both him and Harry had lived various lives during Atlantis’s prime, but that was thousands of years ago. The once great citadel had crumbled into rubble, a skeleton of metal and stone that only barely resembled the gleaming city that had once been their home. It would take years, and no small amount of labor and magic to get it back into something that Tom would feel satisfied with.

But first…

Grabbing Harry’s wrists in his hand, his arm sweeping around his waist, Tom turns them around and presses his husband into one of the flat pieces of rubble that were scattered around.

“How about, instead of going somewhere else and making love to one another, I  _ fuck _ you into the remains of these stone walls until you can’t remember your own name,  _ my beloved.” _ Being this close to Harry, Tom can see his eyes widen and his pupils dilate; can see the tongue that darts out to wet his lips, and the way his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows.

Smirking, Tom leans in, as if he’s going to kiss Harry, whose eyes close and lips part. And then backs off completely; letting go of Harry and walking away.

“Of course if you’d rather go to the Caribbean, then I suppose I can hardly stop you--” Tom goes down laughing as Harry tackles him to the ground.

They don’t end up going anywhere for the rest of the night.


	2. Afterwards

Dumbledore was far more tired than he should have been. For the past week, all across Britain the people had been celebrating the disappearance of Voldemort; first only a few parties here and there, but escalating as no Death Eaters appeared. For all intents and purposes, it looked as though the Dark Lord Voldemort had truly died.

But Dumbledore knew better.

Something had happened that night at Godric’s Hollow. Something that had to do with the scar on Harry’s forehead, and why he was so silent now.

Dumbledore had his suspicions, but the scar’s magical residue wasn’t Dark like a Horcrux should be. It wasn’t even Light. Whatever it was, it had a magical signature so perfectly balanced between the two, that it was completely neutral. The problem was, that was impossible. The closest Dumbledore had ever seen to it was in James’ invisibility cloak, and his own wand.

Could it be that young Harry had become touched by Death magic without dying? Such a feat was literally impossible, yet it was the best theory Dumbledore had.

“Albus, I’m worried about him.” Lily Potter worried her bottom lip between her teeth, staring at her son. Young Harry was playing with Sirius Black, smiling and patting the adult like a dog. Sirius was indulging him, mainly because the small smile on Harry’s face was one of the only emotions he’d shown in the past week. James was gone, having left to go reconnect with Remus Lupin, who they recently had realized wasn’t connected to the Death Eaters.

Sirius in particular seemed to be taking the whole Remus situation rather hard.

“It’s just,” Lily sighs. “He was so happy before, and now, he’s. He’s still reacting to things, but, it’s not the same as before. I haven’t heard him laugh since that night, and Sirius is the only one who’s able to make him smile.” Combing a heavy hand through her hair, she sighs again. “I just don’t know what to do.”

“Lily,” Dumbledore begins gently, aware that she might start crying again. “I understand your feelings, and I know you want him to go back to the happy boy he used to be, before that night. But Poppy found nothing wrong with him, so I’m afraid that the truth of the matter is that there’s nothing to fix.”

She looks up at him then, green eyes burning with unshed tears. “Nothing to fix? Albus, how can you  _ say _ that?”

“Because it’s the truth. You can’t dwell on who he was in the past, Lily. You need to think about the future, and the present. This is your son. This is who he is now, and I think if you keep acting as though he is something broken, you’ll only end up hurting him, and yourself.”

She deflates, her anger and frustration fleeing, leaving behind something hollow.

“God, I just. I wish it had been me.” She whispers, barely loud enough for Dumbledore to hear. “I was ready to give my life for this war, but I never expected that meant I’d be risking Harry’s life too.” Wiping her tears away, she composes herself, giving him a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Thank you for coming, Albus.”

He dips his head at her, and she breaks away to go over to Harry and Sirius, kneeling next to them and smiling when Harry turns to look at her. Harry’s smile disappears, and her expression wavers, but then his hand reaches out to touch underneath one of her eyes, still red from tears. She blinks in surprise, sharing a hesitant look with Sirius. Harry looks up at her, as blank faced as ever; intense and focused in a way no child should be.

“Mama.” Harry smiles at her, for the first time in a week; tiny hands on her cheeks almost as though he’s trying to be gentle. Lily’s expression crumbles and she hugs Harry close, cradling him and rocking him as she cries, Sirius tugging them both into an embrace.

Dumbledore closes the door quietly on the way out, leaving a family to heal.

.

Nott wasn’t exactly the smartest Death Eater in the room, nor the most powerful. But at the moment, he was also the only one who hadn’t dissolved into frustrated panic. No one knew where their Lord was. On Halloween night, he had gathered them, telling them that he wanted them to lay low for a bit, to allow the Order of the Phoenix to relax their guard. That was fine, they could do that.

But now everyone thought their Lord was dead, and he hadn’t shown himself to any of them in a week. They had gathered at the Lestrange manor so as to meet and discuss what they planned to do.

So, predictably, Bellatrix and Barty had both started acting like wild dogs who had suddenly been let off their leashes. Lucius had started to subtly eye their Lord’s empty chair, but was at least smart enough not to make a move while Bellatrix and Barty were being psychotic. And Severus was on his fifth cup of coffee that morning.

_ “Crucio!” _

Nott glanced up, seeing a flash of light hit Goyle. The man immediately convulsed in pain, mouth open in a silent scream. Barty stalked over, grabbing him by the throat and snarling at his terrified face.

“How  _ dare _ you insinuate that Our Lord could die! Are you blind?!” Ripping up the left sleeve of Goyle’s robe, he shoves the man to look at his own arm. “Do you not see His mark, as Dark and prominent as ever? Our Lord is simply biding his time!”

Barty raises his wand again threateningly, his mouth opening to curse the man again.

“Barty--” the man whips around, Nott pausing before he continues. “Goyle likely meant no harm. He knows that Our Lord is powerful and can smite any who cross him. And he certainly doesn’t mean we should ignore his standing order to lay low. I think that he is merely suggesting that it wouldn’t hurt to look for Our Lord, so that we are not idle in our time when he is away.”

Barty lowers his wand, actually looking contemplative, but a scoff comes from down the table.

“You think that Our Lord is so simple, that he could just be found.” Bellatrix glares at Nott, her eyes glinting too bright in the dim light. “Our Lord will not be discovered unless he  _ wishes _ it to happen.”

Nott sees her begin to raise her wand, but he is already speaking.

“Ah, you’re right, Bellatrix.” Nott sighs, very carefully not looking at either her or Barty as he says the next part. “I guess I  _ was _ foolish to assume that Our Lord’s most devout follower would be able to find him.”

There’s a moment of silence, and then Barty sneers across the room at Bellatrix. “Of  _ course _ I’d be able to go to Our Lord if he needed me--”   
_ “You?” _ Bellatrix seethes, standing up from her chair. “My devotion to Our Lord far exceeds  _ your _ feeble excuse for dedication--”

“You filthy whore, as if you’d even be able to find Our Lord in the first place!”

“Well I’ll certainly find him sooner than _ you!” _

“Oh we’ll see about that!”

Nott doesn’t react, but inwardly, he smiles. Now that Barty and Bellatrix were taken care of, he could move on to more pressing matters, such as how to keep the Order occupied enough that they didn’t move to arrest any of the most well-known Death Eaters.

Flicking his eyes to the side to watch Lucius once again eyeing their Lord’s seat, Nott is once again reminded of the note tucked in his pocket. His Lord had approached him alone after the last meeting, and given it to him with instructions to only read it after Halloween.

It was short, and very simple to understand.

_ Nott, _

_ Don’t let anyone fuck up and get arrested. _

_ Lord Voldemort _

Looking up, where Barty and Bellatrix were now at each others’ throats, Nott gave himself a mental pat on the back.

He had it under control.

.

_ “Reparo. Reparo. Reparo. Reparo. Reparo. Reparo. Reparo. Reparo. Reparo. Reparo. Reparo. Reparo. Reparo--” _

“Harry. Dear one, beloved,  _ love _ of my lives,” Tom started, looking up from the sigil he had been drawing on the ground. “We both know you can cast that spell wordlessly. So why aren’t you.” 

“I don’t know, Tom.” Harry turns around, smile saccharine and fake. “Perhaps because saying it out loud is as  _ pointless and boring _ as the actual act of casting the spell?”

Narrowing his eyes at his husband, Tom pointedly lets his gaze drift to the side, where a building now stands where there was only rubble. Harry scowls, marching over to sit next to Tom.

“I’m taking a break.” He glares mutinously at the rubble that’s still there. “Ugh, remind me again why we couldn’t have just built a self-repair ward and had it do the work for us?”

_ “Well,”  _ Tom drawls out the word, scratching a few more lines down. “If we link every single building to the same ward, it would not only need enough blood to fill a pool, it would also repair  _ any _ damage done to the buildings automatically. Which means we wouldn’t be able to do any construction to get plumbing and electricity into the buildings.”

“But it would be so much  _ easier.” _ Harry whines, slumping his weight against Tom. Sighing, and putting down the chisel he had been using to scratch the bedrock, Tom turns and pulls his husband into his lap. Harry instantly melts against him, and Tom starts combing through his messy raven hair with his fingers.

“I know that repetitive grunt work is boring, but it’s only for another week or so. Then we can take care of the wiring and plumbing, and move on to landscaping and making the city look nice.” Twisting his fingers, Tom idly grows a crown of red roses in Harry’s hair.

“I know. I need to be more patience, it’s just,” twisting in Tom’s hold, Harry ends up laying with his head in Tom’s lap, green eyes staring off into the sky. “I just feel like I need to be  _ doing _ stuff. Even though there’s nothing else I can think of doing.”

Harry’s eyes unfocus, his mind drifting off, and Tom looks down at this beautiful creature in his lap; the man he has loved and been loved by for longer than an eternity.

“You realize you don’t need to stay here and keep repairing buildings?” Green eyes refocus and look up at him, confused. “If you feel your wanderlust is pushing for you to go, then go. Ride your broom and fly off to another country. Taste some food, see some sights, and keep going until you feel homesick. I’ll wait here for you.” And then Tom smiles softly, because if there’s one thing he’s learned how to do in his very, very long life, it’s to trust that Harry will always come back to him.

Harry sits up then, hands coming up to rest against Tom’s chest and slide into the hair at the back of his head. He looks at Tom likes he’s something incredible, and kisses him like he’s something to be protected.

And then Harry very deliberately flops back down into Tom’s lap.

“My wanderlust can wait; it’s faster if we’re both rebuilding the city. Besides,” he peers up at Tom, green eyes sparkling off the curve of his smile. “It’s more fun to travel when I’m with you.”

Tom grins then, leaning down to kiss his ridiculous husband.


	3. Dogs?

“James?”

“Yes, Padfoot?” The man in question turned his head to look at Sirius, arms still scrubbing at a food stain on a plate. Sirius is lingering in the doorway to the kitchen, glancing back every so often.

“Um, so first things first; don’t panic.” James puts down the dish. “Ok, so, Harry is safe, Remus is watching him--wait no, James, calm down!” James is already sprinting out to the backyard, a resigned Sirius right behind him.

Bursting out of the back door, hand on his wand, ready for anything--

James stops. Blinks a couple times, just to make sure he isn’t seeing things. Glances over at Sirius for a moment, because  _ Really? _

Sirius just shrugs at him in reply, and turns back to look at Remus, Harry, and… their guests. The backyard isn’t too large, fairly average for a cottage, but seems far larger than usual, now that it is filled with dogs. Dozens of dogs, in various breeds, though the majority of them look suspiciously similar to Sirius’ animagus transformation.

Harry sits in the middle of the yard, a baffled and nervous Remus hovering next to him, as he pets each and every dog that comes up to them. And James’ breath catches in his throat, because Harry’s smiling.

Harry had been a fairly happy baby; giggling and laughing and smiling when he was happy. But then something had changed on that Halloween night. He almost never smiled anymore, and neither James or Lily or any of the healers they had gone to had any idea what could have caused it.

As Harry grew older, and learned to talk, things got better. Not because he suddenly started smiling, but because now that he could communicate better, they were able to realize something.

Harry didn’t stop smiling because he was unhappy; he just didn’t feel the need to smile unless he was incredibly happy. He hadn’t lost his emotions, he just expressed them differently.

When they figured that out, the relief had been like a burst of rain at the end of a drought. Both him and Lily had been so happy that Harry could still be happy, even if he didn’t show it as much as before.

All that meant, was that Harry’s rare smiles meant even more to them.

So James was a lot less worried about the dogs, but at the same time,  _ what the fuck? _ Remus and Sirius also seemed to have no idea what to make of the situation, but Harry was just petting the dogs without a care in the world.

“Hey there, kiddo.” James picked his way through the dogs and squats down next to his son. “Whatcha doing?”

“Papa.” Harry looks up at him, his smile brightening a bit. “I am… petting a dog.”

“...Alright. Do you, uh… do you know where the dogs came from?”

Harry looks up then, his eyes looking past James to something far off. “They are messengers; traveling from back and forth between worlds to ferry the souls who are at peace.”

“...” James was gonna take that as a no. Somewhere behind James, Sirius snorts. He always gets a kick out of Harry’s odd stories; James blames him directly for the odd humor Harry’s imagination has gained.

“Papa.” Harry is staring at him again, head tilted ever so slightly to the side. “Would you like to meet my friends?”

“Sure, Harry.” James smiles and ruffles his son’s hair. For the next five minutes, Harry drags him around the garden, pointing in turn at each dog and telling James their name. Sirius and Remus follow behind him, bemusedly picking their way through the many dogs flopped across the grass.

“--and this is Melinoë.” Harry gestures to a particularly large hound, whose tail shakes the ground wagging when Harry pets her on the head. “And next to her are the brothers, Reggie and Sirius.”

“Aww, Prongslet!” Sirius whoops, crouching next to Harry. “You named a dog after me?” Sirius then aims what he probably thinks is a subtle look at James and Remus, which screams, _ I’m his favorite adult. _

“...No.” Harry says, sounding a little hesitant. “I didn’t name him. He was named by his family, after the dog star.”

Sirius frowns slightly, and leans forward, looking as though he’s about to ask Harry a question.

That’s when Sirius-the-dog sneezes directly into Sirius-the-human’s face. Yelping, Sirius tumbles backward, straight into Remus’ knees, causing them both to fall onto the grass.

Sirius-the-dog chuffs, sounding as though he’s laughing, and Reggie whaps him with a paw. The interaction is strangely human, but James is too busy laughing at his friends to pay any mind to it.

A high, clear laugh rings through the air, and everyone in the clearing, humans and dogs alike, turn to Harry, who’s hiding a grin behind his hands, and who had just  _ laughed _ . James feels a matching grin creep onto his face, and laughing, he sweeps Harry up into a hug. Harry laughs with him, louder this time, and James thinks,  _ this is a memory for a Patronus. _

He misses Remus running inside to grab the camera, and only realizes when he hears the  _ snap _ of a photo being taken. It’s moments like these that make James regret that they had ever doubted Remus’ loyalty. 

_ “Scourgify,” _ Remus murmurs, cleaning Sirius’ face. “So, Harry. Did you want to finish introducing us to your friends?”

“Yeah!” Harry grins at them, bright and effusive, and drags them over to a smaller dog, who’s sitting calmly near the edge of the lawn. If James didn’t know any better, he’d almost say it was watching over the other canines. Harry smoothes a gentle hand over it’s back, and it boops him in the chest with its nose.

“This is Charon.” Harry’s voice is odd, an emotion fleeting across his face too quick to identify. “He is my oldest friend. Charon, this is my father, James Potter, and my uncles, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.”

James smiled, holding out a hand for the dog to sniff, and Charon let out a soft  _ “Borf!” _ before leaning forward to lick his hand.

“And that’s everyone,” Harry sits down, Charon immediately moving to sit next to him. They lean on each other, and  _ snap. _

Remus is such a good friend.

“Everyone?” Sirius glances around the yard, noticing all the dogs that hadn’t been named yet. “Well what about the rest of the dogs?” Harry glances up, following Sirius’ gaze towards the other dogs.

“Oh. Them.” Harry shrugs, face going deadpan. “I don’t know any of them. They just showed up.”

James looks at his friends, and they share a shrug, before sitting down and petting some dogs.

.

Lily is exasperated when she gets home, but she loves the pictures Remus took. The dogs keep showing up every few weeks, to Harry’s obvious delight, and eventually they have a box of dog treats sitting in their pantry.

.

It was Halloween night, 1984. The air was cold and crisp. The moon hung suspended in the sky, full and bright, no clouds around for miles. Three wizards stood on the sidewalk, waiting for the Knight Bus. None of them knew one another, and so a very awkward silence was tangible in the air around them. 

One of them, a portly fellow by the name of O. Reginald Charicker, reached up to drag the last dregs of his cigarette from his mouth, and dropped it to his feet, snuffing it under his shoe.

_ \--sssss-- _

Blinking, he glanced around, a furrow between his eyebrows. What an odd sound.

_ \--ssssssss-- _

Was… it getting louder?

_ \--ssssssssssss-- _

“Oi, wha’ the ‘ell’s tha’ bloody noise?” The wizard next to Charicker asked, his fierce scowl a contrast to his thin and reedy voice.

“Is there a pipe leaking somewhere?” The other wizard chimes in, starting to glance around himself.

_ \--SSSSSSSSSSSSSS-- _

“That’s starting to freak me out a bit--” The other wizard started looking around, only to freeze. Blinking, Charicker follows his gaze, and freezes himself, when he sees a pair of glowing red eyes.

The apparition is tall, pale, and snakelike. Worst of all, it’s face is familiar in the most terrifying way. It’s mouth is stretched open, and from it, a chilling sound comes forth.

_ HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS _

It takes a step forward, then lunges at them. Screaming, the three of them stumble backwards, tumbling over as a gust of black mist whooshes over them.

For a minute, none of them move; all of them too shocked to see the bus arrive at last.

“Are you alright?” Stan Shunpike blinks down at their shivering forms, and his voice jolts them out of their frozen state.

“Bloody hell! Was that You-Know-Who?!”

.

“We should do that every Halloween!” Harry cackles, flopping backwards onto their bed. Across the room, Tom rolls his eyes, but he has that smirk on his face that means he’s inwardly amused.

“Oh man, that one guy’s face was priceless. I think he might’ve pissed his pants if we kept going.” Harry sighs, happy and at peace with himself. “I am so happy we did that.”

“I just can’t believe you yelled ‘yeet’ at them in Parseltongue.” Tom says dryly, turning another page in his book. Harry smirks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dogs. :)
> 
> And yes, I did literally name a throwaway OC "Original Character."


	4. An Empty City (no more)

Atlantis was reborn. A city lost to the ocean, brought back from ruin. Harry and Tom had spent almost five years not only rebuilding it to their satisfaction, but improving it. Spires of stone and metal alight with electricity and the glow of runes. Wide streets lined with street lights and trees, and canals full of clear water. Above, Atlantis’ wards kept out the water of the ocean; an artificial sky full of stars stretching above the city.

“It’s beautiful.” Harry murmured, leaning into Tom. He could feel his husband preen slightly at the praise, and his own lips quirked up in response.

“So,” Tom draws out the word, shifting slightly so Harry’s head is nestled on his shoulder. “I’ve been thinking--”

“A dangerous pastime.”

“Oh hush. So, we have rebuilt Atlantis; in fact, we’ve improved it. But the fact remains that we have an empty city, and quite frankly, neither you or I need quite this many buildings.”

“I mean, you’re not wrong.” Harry sat up slightly so he could side eye Tom. “But it sounds like you’ve already got something in mind.”

Tom smirks, and Harry feels a slight shiver crawl up his spine. That smirk is the smirk Tom has when he’s up to some mischief. Harry loves that smirk.

“Well, the entire reason we built Atlantis was to occupy ourselves with something to do while Death experiences mortality for the first time. And they’ve apparently been enjoying it so far.” Tom’s smirk grows, and with it, so does Harry’s anticipation. “So why not share that happiness with others?”

Harry is confused. For another two seconds, he just stares at Tom, who grows more amused, and then all at once he gets it.

“Oh!” Harry’s eyes widen, and oh this is _good._ “Oh this is going to be _wonderful.”_ A smirk matching Tom’s slithers its way onto Harry’s face.

“Let’s do it.”

.

“No.” Charon says flatly.

“YES!” Every other Grim in the room shouts, many of their tails wagging so furiously that the ground starts trembling slightly. With a laugh, Achilles bounds zir way to the front of the room, grinning at Harry and Tom with a mouth full of fangs.

“So does this mean you’ve got a way for us to sustain our human forms outside of Limbo? Even temporarily?” Zie asked them, bright green eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Yep!” Harry laughed, giving the room at large a double thumbs up. “We’re gonna be operating under similar rules to that one life when you all had those pendants that let you switch forms at will.”

“Ok, this is epic.” Sirius grins. “So are we allowed to go out and get laid?”

“For that matter, are we going to be visible to the living? Or are we just going to end up freaking out some ghosts?” Patroclus asks, glancing at his spouse.

“Now wait just a minute!” Charon raised his voice, instantly silencing the room. Sighing, he looks up at Harry and Tom, with something like regret in his eyes. “Harry, Tom, this is a very kind offer, but I just don’t think this is a good time to do this. This is the first time in millenia that Thanatos has really wanted something, and as their friends, I think we should be trying our hardest to support them. And the last thing they need is for this planet to go, pardon my language, _batshit_ the way that pendant universe did.”

“But--” Achilles pipes up.

“No.” Achilles droops into Patroclus. Charon sighs again. “Look, I know that you all want this, but I think we should wait until after Thanatos is done living their life.”

“Charon, wait.” Melinoë glides forward. “You want Thanatos to be happy, and we want to do this. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.”

“But the pendant universe--”

“The pendant universe was our own faults.” Melinoë glances around the room. “We were younger, and it was our first time being humans outside of Limbo in millenia. Yes, people stopped dying for a bit, and a lot of people who shouldn’t have died, did die, but I believe we have learned from our mistakes.” She smiles, and it’s a terrible and beautiful thing. “And if anyone hasn’t learned what they did wrong, I will be happy to _educate them.”_

Charon stares at her for a stretched moment, everyone else in the room holding their breath. Finally, he sighs, and rolls his eyes at the room at large.

“Alright then. I guess we’re doing this. As long as no one slacks off and leaves their scythe in the hands of mortals--” Here he pauses to glare at Orpheus, who shrinks back into the corner of the room near Eurydice. “--then I suppose that we can do this. Goodness knows we all could use a little fun.”

Harry whoops, squatting down to hug Charon, who huffs out something that could almost count as a laugh.

“So, now that everyone’s in agreement, let’s go into a little more detail.” Tom steps forward, elegantly gaining the room’s attention. “Firstly, let’s address the form issue that Patroclus brought up. Similar to the pendants, you all will be able to shift between your forms as Grims and your forms as humans. Therefore you will be visible to the living, and able to interact with them. But this time, instead of using pendants, I just asked Hecate to give us a hand.”

Immediately, most of the room does the dog equivalent of a double-take.

“Hecate?!” Alecto gapes at Tom in disbelief. “Are you telling me you asked Magic herself to make us bodies?”

_“And I agreed.”_

Everyone jerks around as a new voice comes from the back of the room, a shadow growing on the wall. Orpheus and Eurydice both scramble away as a sharply heeled boot steps out from the wall, a dark leg following.

“After all,” Hecate continues smugly, black eyes glowing with mischief. “I’m always up for the chance to cause some chaos.”

.

“Charon?” Thanatos blinks, surprised. “What are you doing here?”

It was a Tuesday, late in the evening. The sun’s final rays were just barely lighting the horizon with a violet glow. Thanatos was in bed, ready to sleep after a short day of learning. Then Charon had appeared from the shadows.

The Grim took a moment to set down an object that he had been carrying in his mouth, a familiar pair of scissors.

“Sorry to intrude upon you so late, Thana, but things are happening that you should be aware of. Nothing to worry about,” he continues, seeing Thanatos sit up and push off the covers . “But something that you should know of nonetheless.”

“If it is something I should not worry about,” Thanatos narrows their eyes at Charon. “Then why have you brought me my scythe?”

Charon grins then, and it’s so sudden and unexpected that Thanatos actually jolts slightly.

“Thanatos, my old friend, this life has just become much more _fun.”_ Charon backs up slightly, and then _grows._ Fur receding back to show skin, and tail melting away into cloth. Thanatos barely has time to blink before Charon stands before them; short and gangly and human.

“What the _fuck.”_ Thanatos blinks again, dumbly, then narrows their eyes and looks closely at Charon’s neck. He looks confused at the scrutiny, then laughs and pulls down his collar slightly to reveal a bare neck.

“No worries; we aren’t using pendants this time. And the other Grims have promised me that they’ll be keeping a much closer eye on their scythes, so we won’t be having another zombie problem.”

“But why?” Thanatos looks bewildered. “What is the point of having human forms this life?”

Charon grins again, the smile much less threatening when on a human face.

“Well, Thana, as you know already, Tom and Harry decided that their pet project for this life was going to be rebuilding Atlantis. But once they were done, they realized they had an empty city. So they _graciously_ decided to turn the city into a temporary home for all of their subjects. Now instead of hanging out in Limbo for this life, we’ve all decided to move there so we can all have some fun with the illusion of living mortally. Plus,” he hesitates slightly, scratching his cheek sheepishly. “This way we can support you in a much more substantial way.”

Thanatos gapes at him, absolutely speechless. Charon just sort of shrugs at them, still grinning. Thanatos lifts their hands, pauses, then puts them back down. This repeats a couple times, until eventually, Thanatos just scrubs a hand over their face and slumps.

“Okay.” They say, then again louder. “Okay. Why not. Let’s do this.”

They sigh, looking up at Charon, smiling slightly now.

“I can only assume you brought my scythe so I’d be able to travel to Atlantis to visit you all if I wanted to?” At Charon’s nod, they roll their eyes, but bend down and grab the scissors off the floor. They spin the metal shears around a finger, and the blades melt into a different form; a thin metal ring.

“Alright, I’ll visit Atlantis sometime in the next month, and we can talk details then.” Pulling up the covers, Thanatos snuggles back into their bed. “I’ll talk to you later, Charon. Thanks for visiting.”

Charon nods at them and turns to leave, but pauses.

“Thanatos? One more thing.”

.

Lily and James were trying to figure out how exactly they were going to teach their son, when he had already learned to read so quickly. If his learning pace kept up, they would need to start looking into advanced learning material.

“HECATE?”

They both started as they heard Harry shout from upstairs. Lily was already up and halfway to the stairs when the next shout came.

“Mum? Dad? I think I just had some accidental magic, sorry!”

Slowing down, Lily let out a sigh and trudged up the stairs at a normal pace, while James sat back down and gathered up some of the fallen papers around him.

Being a parent was definitely one of the hardest challenges they had faced yet, but it was certainly worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That feeling when you decide to do NaNo, and then school instantly drops way too much work on you? Yeah. That is me.  
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the chapter. Hopefully, next chapter I'll be able to get the rest of the worldbuilding out of the way, so we can hop right into shenanigans for chap. 6!


	5. Eleven

“Alice! Frank! It’s been forever!” Lily embraces the Longbottom couple, then squats down to meet the eyes peering out from behind Alice’s legs. “And this must be Neville. It’s so wonderful to finally meet you!”

Neville blushes and mumbles something that might’ve been a very quiet “You too,” then hides back behind his mother’s legs. Lily coos at him, while James, Sirius, and Remus all greeted the Longbottoms themselves.

“He’s a little shy.” Frank chuckled, dropping a hand on Neville’s head and ruffling it. “Speaking of shy, where’s little Harry?”

Simultaneously, the four permanent residents of the Potter House blink and then glance around, realizing that no, Harry in fact wasn’t there. They all sigh, and the men head out to go look for Harry while Lily brings the Longbottoms inside for some tea.

“Harry does this sometimes, you see.” She explains while floating a kettle onto the stove. “He’s a very adventurous boy, though you wouldn’t know it just by looking at him. Earl Grey?” They nods. “He can be very quiet, and doesn’t really show what he’s feeling, so when he gets the urge to go explore the woods, James and I don’t always notice immediately.” Grabbing a cookie tin from inside of a cupboard, Lily set it on the table, Frank immediately going for the shortbreads inside.

“You don’t sound too worried,” Alice notes while grabbing a chocolate chip one to give to Neville.

“Goodness knows that if Neville disappeared, Alice’d have a heart attack.” Frank jokes, his wife whapping him lightly on the shoulder in response.

“Oh we certainly were the first couple of times it happened, but Harry is incredibly mature for his age.” She smiles, wand idly swishing to bring over the tea boxes. “He always leaves a note saying approximately when he’ll be back, and he always is back before it gets dark. And if necessary, Sirius has a way to track him down quickly.”

They continued chatting and snacking on cookies. They were halfway through their cups of tea by the time the boys got back.

“Uh, Lily?” James tapped his fingers together in the doorway nervously, an odd look on his face.

“What’s the matter, James?” Lily frowns, getting up from her chair, the Longbottoms also watching him. He hesitates a bit longer, glancing backwards at something behind him.

“It seems that Harry made a friend in the woods today.” James starts, only for Sirius to pop up behind him with a wide grin.

“Friend huh?” Sirius crows, slinging an arm over James’ shoulders. “Lily, what your idiot here is edging around, is that Harry went out and got a puppy crush.”

“Oh, really?” Lily gasped, a smile lighting up her face, as she went to peer around the edge of the doorway into the living room.

Remus was hanging coats up over by the door, and Harry was sitting on the floor of the living room with another child. Lily’s breath caught slightly as she saw how Harry was shyly showing his friend the crayon drawings he had made the other day.

“This is really cool!” The kid said, the voice making her think it was a boy. “Do you like drawing a lot?”

“Yeah.” Harry ducked his head as _he blushed,_ and Lily cooed, gripping James’ hand tightly. The two children looked up at the sound, and Harry scrambled to get up. His friend followed his example, standing up much more gracefully, and then Harry grabbed his hand and tugged him over to them.

“These are my parents.” Harry pointed out for the boy. “Mum, Dad, this is…” Harry hesitated, looking sideways at his friend.

“I’m Icarus. It’s nice to meet you.” The boy was very pretty, with dark curling locks, and tanned golden skin. Lily could see why Harry had a crush on him.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Icarus.” Lily beamed at him, but then turned to Harry with an arched brow. “Harry Potter.”

Harry wilted slightly, shuffling his feet.

“I’m sorry, Mum. I forgot we were meeting the Longbottoms today.” Lily sighed, smoothing a hand over his messy hair, absently plucking a stray leaf out from within the strands. He peeked up at her, eyes apologetic behind his bangs. “If they’re still here, I’d really like to meet them.”

“Well, I think that can be arranged,” James smiles next to her.

.

“I’m Harry.” He held out a hand, face completely deadpan. Sirius snorted. Remus facepalmed. Lily and James just smiled helplessly.

“...I’m Neville.” Neville grabbed his hand, and hesitantly shook it. Harry nodded his head at him very seriously.

“Alright, we’re friends now. Do you like dogs?” Harry tilted his head at Neville, who looked shocked, but then blinked rapidly and sniffled slightly.

“I don’t know. I’ve never met one before.” Neville clearly thought this was a deal breaker for the whole friendship thing, but Harry just tightened his grip on his hand and dragged him over to Sirius. He looked down at them, confused, but at the expectant look Harry gave him, rolled his eyes.

“Not today, pup.”

.

“Wait.” Remus looked around, realizing they were one person short. “Where did Icarus go?”

.

“It’s been a while since I’ve heard you refer to yourself as Icarus.” Thanatos whispers that night, under the cover of darkness. Across the room, Eros smiles at him, still in the form of a child.

“It has been a while since my first life, but I’ve always been a nostalgic person.”

Thanatos laughs then, genuine and soft and so fond. Eros walks over, stroking a warm hand over a pale cheekbone, ever so gently, and then turns to the window to leave.

“Thank you for coming to meet my parents today.”

“Of course.” Violet eyes meet malachite through the darkness, the two of them smiling at one another. “Anything to make you happy, Thana. Anything at all.”

Wings spread, and like a dream, he is gone.

.

It seems like no time has passed at all before Thanatos is turning eleven, and receiving his Hogwarts letter. Harry and Charon sneak him out that night, and take him for celebratory ice cream at Atlantis’ only creamery: **I Scream 4** _._ It’s run by a pair of Demons; which are basically Life’s equivalent of Grims. It’s a hobby of theirs, but considering they are immortal, that just means they are _very good_ at what they do.

They take the time for Thanatos to visit the office, just so he can see with his own eyes that they haven’t screwed anything up. _Which they haven’t._

Then of course, Demeter, Hecate, and Eros steal Thanatos away for a “very important Horsemen meeting, I’m sure you understand how it is,” with a promise to return him to his house once the meeting is over. Harry is pretty sure they’re just going off to gamble, since Thanatos’ mortal life has put a hold to their weekly poker night.

Still, it’s nice to know some things never change.

.

_Dear Mr. Scamander,_

_I’m writing to you on behalf of the Berk Dragon Reserve. I’m not sure if it’s been brought to your attention yet, but recently many of our species have started to migrate. We hate to trouble you in your retirement, but none of the other dragon handlers we’ve reached out to have any idea what’s going on._

_The odd thing is that none of these species have ever shown migratory patterns before. It isn’t just limited to our dragons; we’ve noticed that the thestrals and valravn that live near the reserve have also begun to migrate._

_We suspect that not only are they leaving at the same time, but that they are going to the same place. We’ve tried to track them with magic, but something disables the trackers before they reach their destination. So far, we’ve been able to determine that wherever they’re going is somewhere in the Mediterranean._

_We still haven’t discovered the exact location they’re going to, or even the cause of this migration. We were hoping you might be willing to advise us on this issue, as you’re the Wizarding World’s foremost expert on behaviour patterns that multiple species exhibit._

_Any help you can give us would be appreciated._

_Sincerely,_

_Hilda H. Haddock IV_

_Head Handler_

.

“Hmmm.” Somewhere in Dorset, an old man’s curiosity is sparked. Pulling a fresh page of paper from a drawer, he begins to write a response.

.

The Order of the Phoenix met for the first time in years. It was a Tuesday night; they knew that no one cared about where people were on a Tuesday, which was why that was when they met. The meeting was held at the house of Kingsley Shacklebolt, and nobody knew quite why the meeting had been called.

They all had suspicions.

The last person to arrive was Mundungus Fletcher, as usual, and once everyone was seated, Dumbledore began to speak.

“Thank you all for coming. I know many of you have been busy with your families these days, but I have reason to believe that Voldemort is still alive. In fact, he is the same Voldemort that the papers have been printing sightings of each Halloween--”

.

“--And we need to start following those leads, so that we can find Our Lord.” Barty gazes around the room, filled with approximately half of the current Death Eaters. “He is only appearing on Samhain, and only after the sun sets. The same day and time he is believed to have been killed. This is no coincidence.”

His eyes cut across the room like daggers, several of the members freezing in terror under his glare.

“I think that Our Lord did something that Samhain. Something that caused him to be caught between life and death, and he is now stuck there. That’s why it’s up to us to help him! And you can bet your asses we’re gonna do it before that bitch--”

.

“--bastard Crouch gets anywhere near Him!” Bellatrix pounded on the table for emphasis, Lucius flinching as Narcissa calmly sipped her tea.

“But how are we supposed to help Our Lord, if we do not know what is wrong with him?” Carrow asks. “For that matter, if all of us are going to be out searching on Samhain, how do we avoid those vultures that the press always sends out to try and get a picture of “You-Know-Who’s Ghost”?”

Narcissa’s teacup makes a clink as she sets it down. Everyone in the room freezes as cool grey eyes glance up from under pale blonde lashes.

“If you can’t deal with a couple of reporters, then I truly question why you were placed in Slytherin.” For a breathless moment, every person in the room feels the cold, clammy hands of death closing in on their throats. Then Narcissa stands. “Excuse me. I need to make sure my son is actually asleep, and not tormenting the House Elves.” With the grace of a lady, and the air of a queen, she ever so slowly leaves the room.

When she’s gone, there’s an audible sigh of relief.

“...Anyway,” Bellatrix continues, an eye still on the door where her sister left. “The point I am trying to make, is that once we find Our Lord, we need to follow His instructions to the letter. After all, this could very well mean the difference between our victory--”

.

“--And our defeat.” Dumbledore intones gravely, the room sharing his solemn look. “This Halloween, I expect all of you to be on your guard. We cannot put ourselves at a disadvantage, especially against an opponent whose motives remain largely unknown.”

.

Harry sneezed.

Tom, sitting beside him, took the opportunity to wrestle the blanket away. Harry grabbed the remote and paused the movie they were watching, then turned to glare at the dirty traitor sitting next to him. Tom had the gall to smirk at him, the absolute asshole.

Two could play that game.

None-too-subtly, Harry stretched out on the opposite side of the couch, pretending not to notice that his shirt had ridden up to show a sliver of tanned skin. It was irritatingly cool without the blanket, and goosebumps crawled over the exposed skin, but it was worth it to see Tom’s eyes glued unerringly on his skin.

Flicking his hand, the blanket shoved itself over Tom’s head, ruffling his oh so perfect hair in the process. It took maybe five seconds for him to get it off, revealing quite the bedhead in the process. Tom immediately lunges at where Harry was sitting, but by then he was already gone, having used those precious few seconds to get a head start.

Tom chases him through the house, skidding into their bedroom, to find Harry standing on the railing of their balcony. Popping off a quick salute, Harry lets himself tip backwards, a wild grin stretched across his face, even as Tom rushes forward with an answering grin on his face.

In free fall, Harry takes a moment to just _feel;_ wind rushing past him, adrenaline singing through his veins, the approaching ground rising to meet him like an old friend. Then he twists, reaching inside himself for that core of neutrality, and dragging it forward, summoning something that was as much a part of him as his Hallows.

(A few dozen lifetimes back, Harry spent an entire life cycle working with Thanatos and Hecate to create a soul-forged emblem. Not a symbol of his whole Master-of-Death thing like the Hallows were, but something that represented _Harry._

To absolutely no one’s surprise, that object ended up being a broom.)

Sharply spinning upwards only inches from the ground, Harry guided his broom upwards towards the canopy of the city, where the bridges between the skyscrapers twisted around one another; a Celtic knot of metal and wood and light.

Harry glanced behind him, and sure enough, Tom was chasing after him; an arcing spiral of smoke and light that almost danced on the air.

“Catch me if you can, dearest!” Harry calls out playfully, before turning forward and diving down into the bridge system, gaining speed as he went.

He weaved through the bridges, passing a jogging Tisiphone out on one of them, and dodging a pair of Erotes who were out flying.

“Hi James’ dad!” They called out to him, waving and giggling, and Harry took a moment to smile and wave back, flipping over on his broom to dodge Tom as he flew past.

Harry shot downwards, leaving behind the curls of the bridges in favor of flying over the twisting streets, towards the large park in the center of the city. As he entered, he slowed, letting Tom catch up to him. Harry felt the weight of arms curl around his waist as Tom reformed on the broom behind him.

“Caught you.” Tom smirks, and presses a lingering kiss to the nape of Harry’s neck, before tucking his head over Harry’s shoulder.

They spend a couple minutes that way, flying slowly over the park, as they gaze down at the colorful hordes of creatures who had migrated there for the autumn and winter. Creatures who had been unable to come for the millenia that Atlantis had lay at the bottom of the sea; abandoned and alone. All of them having come for the same reason, which lay at the very center of the city.

The Fountain of Solstices; a large structure that represented the four seasons that made up the year. It was made up of four sectors, each a tribute to one of the four seasons and elements, and located in either the north, south, east, or west.

It was to the sector in the east that Harry guided his broom towards. At first glance, it was just a simple curve of metal pointing inwards, a striking emptiness in comparison to the opulent architecture and grandeur of the rest of the fountain. But as Harry flew over it, his eyes could see the twisting patterns of dust and glowing specks, as they were caught in the endless loops of wind that sung music through the air.

Each of the four cardinal directions in the fountain represented both a season, and one of the Four Horsemen. The east was Harry’s favorite section; representing both Death and Autumn, and their shared element, air. Something that could never be seen, but whose effects shaped the world around it nonetheless.

As he flew through, the wind curled around his broom, bringing with it music and light that swirled around him. The air itself sung with magic and harmony, resonating with the magic inside Harry.

It was a feeling like no other. Like walking over the threshold of your house at the end of a long day, the wood creaking in the same places as always and the sound of laughter echoing through the walls. It was the familiarity of coming home, and the soft realization of waking to sunlight on your skin. That first breath of crisp air as the leaves around you turn gold; stealing the colors of sunset from the sky.

It was the magic that Thanatos and Harry shared. The core of who they were.

“I can’t wait for the Winter Solstice.” Tom murmured in Harry’s ear, his lips pressing a smile into Harry’s neck. “I always love how beautiful it is when the Fountain sings.”

“Yeah.” Harry leans back into Tom a little more, letting his broom drift back in the direction of their home. “It’s incredible, how many centuries have passed since the last time Atlantis could have the Solstice ceremonies. And yet for all those years, creatures around the world kept passing down the stories of the Fountain, and the route to get to Atlantis. And now they’ve come back.”

Tom hummed in agreement, his body a constant heat against Harry’s back. They flew in companionable silence for most of the way back, observing the city that they had rebuilt, now filled with life and light.

“We should invite your fellow Master to attend the ceremony with his lover.” Tom suggested. “I don’t think they’ve had a life cycle yet where Atlantis wasn’t in ruin.”

“That would be nice. We can pass the message to Hecate, since she knows where they are.”

“I’m still surprised that they haven’t been to the city yet.” Tom admits, dropping down from the broom to land on the balcony. Harry drops down behind him, his broom returning to its place in his magic. “After all, their Magi relocated here when the Erotes, Demons, and Grims did.”

Harry grins dopily at the reminder. It’s been a couple life cycles since all his children were all in the same place at the same time.

“I can hardly blame them. I mean they only really got their act together a few cycles ago. They probably want some _alone time.”_ Harry waggles his eyebrows suggestively, Tom snorting at the look.

“Speaking of alone time, I’m exhausted.” Tom stretched slightly, heading indoors to their bedroom. Harry rolled his eyes, following him inside and closing the curtains behind them.

“Oh yeah! Tom, I have the _best_ idea for Halloween this year.”

“Oh gods _,_ those poor souls.”

.

**Omake: Reunion**

“James!” Harry exclaims happily, moving forward to embrace his son. James laughs and hugs him back, sticking his tongue out at Tom playfully behind his dad’s back. Tom just smirks back and whistles sharply, two black blurs rushing forward from behind him to jump onto the hugging pair.

“Lily! Teddy!” James’ face is joyous as he grabs the two Grims into a hug, his wings curling around them, white feathers a stark contrast to the black fur. Then the fur melts away, revealing three young adults; two with red hair, one with blue.

“It’s a very nice city,” Eros comments from next to Harry. They’re both looking out over the entrance to the city, where a field of Grims are greeting the arriving Erotes. “It was kind of you to offer my Erotes a chance to be mortal for a life cycle.”

“Of course. It was honestly a rather selfish wish on my part, to want all my children in the same place for once.” Harry admits, but his eyes are warm as he looks at Lily giving James a noogie as Teddy laughs at him.

“Wow. I can’t _believe_ you guys started without me.” Albus Severus looms out of the shadows behind Teddy, a hand held dramatically to his heart. The three of them startle at the sudden intrusion, causing Albus to grin at getting one over his siblings. “I’m _hurt.”_

“Al, you little shit!” Lily lunges at him, only Teddy’s quick intervention keeping her from getting at him.

“Yeah, he is a shit, isn’t he.” An amused voice speaks up from behind Al, Scorpius peering out from behind his husband. They’re both dressed in the official Magi uniform that Hecate designed to make “those sassy assholes at least _look_ professional, even if they _are_ reckless idiots.”

She said they made her Magi look badass. Harry said it made them look like underpaid waiters. Either way, it was still leagues above the togas that the Erotes had to wear whenever they fucked up a job.

“Well if it isn’t my little snakes!” Harry brightly smiles. “Have you two gotten me any grandchildren yet?”

 _“Dad.”_ Al groans, his hands covering his face. Behind him, Scorpius chuckles. “Why do you ask us that _every single time_ we see you.”

“Because you are my only child who has gotten married,” Harry answers, despite knowing Al was being rhetorical. To be honest, he really only keeps asking because Al’s embarrassment is a constant source of amusement for him.

“What’s this I hear about grandchildren?” Like a _fucking cockroach,_ Demeter appears before them; resplendent in shimmering red armor, and two horns curling above her head like a crown. Harry can hear the cries of her Demons as they approach the entrance, swooping down on red and black wings to join the large crowd of immortals gathered there.

“Demeter.” Tom greets warmly, moving forward to embrace her. The kids take this moment of distraction to make a break towards where the Demons are quickly turning the reuniting crowd into a party.

“Tom!” She smiles back, hugging him happily. Harry stands back with Eros, letting them have a moment. He may not be very fond of Demeter, but even so, he couldn’t really hate her. Not when she cares for Tom so strongly, and was so willing to teach him how to be happy when they first started looping.

“My, my,” Hecate joins their group, slinking up from the shadows. “Isn’t this lovely? It’s been a while since we’ve all had our assistants in the same place.”

“Thank you again for giving my soldiers such a fun opportunity, Harry.” Demeter smiles, and there’s something menacing in the curve of her lips. “It’s been a while since they’ve been allowed to let loose.”

“Erotes, Demons, Magi, and Grims, all sharing a city.” Eros laughs. “We should do this again, when lovely Thanatos isn’t stuck in a mortal skin.”

“The real question is how many cycles it’s gonna take before we can convince Chronos to let their Angels come down and play.” Hecate pouts, even as she summons a pack of cards from the shadows. “So since we’re all here, who’s up for a quick game of poker?”

Demeter and Eros both brighten up, but Harry and Tom shake their heads.

“Ah, no thanks. I’m not quite willing to risk going against you in a game, Lady Luck.” The Horsemen laugh at him in good humor. None of them have forgotten that one really bad poker night that had resulted in Harry having to live a cycle running errands for Hecate alongside her Magi. “Nonetheless, I hope you three enjoy the evening.”

The three of them leave in a cloud of glittering smoke, and Harry can just tell that some poor sap is gonna have to deal with the consequences of poker night.

He has a feeling that poor sap is gonna end up being him.

“Shall we go join the celebrations?” Tom holds out an arm, and Harry loops an arm through his. Might as well enjoy the party while it lasts.

“We shall.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is really late. But its also longer! Just to give you all a heads up, I don't know when chap. 6 will be up, because right now finals are kicking my ass. Not to worry though, because once I'm on break I'll be able to type out at least up to chap. 10.
> 
> I hope any of you who also have finals the best of luck!
> 
> Oh and also, this should be the last chapter of set up, so that means we can get into the shenanigans now instead of me shoving as much info into a paragraph as possible.
> 
> Have a lovely day, and comment if you wanna discuss stuff!
> 
> Edit:  
> So, just to clarify some things in case you're confused by the omake, yes, those are the Potter kids from Life Cycle 1. Some of the stuff revolving around them is spoilers, but I am able to clarify a few things.
> 
> 1) Why the heck are the Potter kids here? They're all immortal. Specifically, Teddy and Lily are both Grims, and therefore they work under both Thanatos and Harry. James is an Erotes, aka a Cupid/Cherub, and works under Eros. Albus and Scorpius are Magii, and work for Hecate.  
> 2) Why aren't they all Grims? Based on their personalities, they ended up being offered different opportunities upon their deaths. Al and Scor decided to work as Magii, Lily and Teddy both decided to ferry souls(plus another thing that is spoilers), and James decided to ~spread the love~.  
> 3) How did they die? Spoilers~ ;)  
> 4) What the heck is going on in that omake??? In summary; Harry and Tom have successfully rebuilt Atlantis, and instead of just offering the Grims the ability to party it up in the city, they decided to invite the other Horsemen's minions. This also has the side effect of having all of Harry's kids who are immortal in the same location, which doesn't happen too often since they all have jobs. Basically, this is the reunion between the minions of all Four Horsemen, even if Thanatos themself are absent.
> 
> Hope this clears up the confusion! If you have any more questions I will either try to answer them in the comments, or add more stuff up here! Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> I am 100% dedicating this to the Tomarry discord server. They have inspired a love of writing in me again. Shout out to the sprinters!


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